


Heroes

by achilleanobiwan



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Ahsoka and Kaeden will be background just warning you, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, I live for Obi-Wan fighting the Empire tbh, Multi, The Lawless never happened bc Maul actually died on Naboo, This idea just wouldn't leave me alone oops, so Satine's alive
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-21
Updated: 2017-06-07
Packaged: 2018-11-03 11:23:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10966212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/achilleanobiwan/pseuds/achilleanobiwan
Summary: The Republic falls, and Padmé's children die with her. Obi-Wan fakes his death (again) and begins looking for survivors of Order 66. Satine helps Bail Organa with the Rebellion. Along the way, Obi-Wan finds something he thought he'd lost for good.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so this chapter is super short because it's really just setting everything up. A few lines are pulled directly from E.K. Johnston's wonderful Ahsoka novel, but don't let that fool you, this fic will be Obi-Wan centric.  
> If you're waiting for me to update one of my other works, I'm sorry, I promise I'm working on those and an update will be happening soon!  
> As always, I don't own anything, and enjoy!

"You want to take over running my intelligence networks," Bail said.

"Who runs them now?" Ahsoka asked.

"No one, really," he told her. "That's most of the problem. Ben has been telling me-"

"Ben?"

There was a brief, tense pause.

"Ah, yes, that's the other thing I needed to talk to you about. I wanted to tell you sooner, but he was insistent on talking to you face-to-face."

The other door in Bail's office swished open, and there stood Obi-Wan Kenobi.

Ahsoka rubbed at her eyes, certain her mind was playing tricks on her. Master Obi-Wan couldn't be here, he was dead. It had been broadcasted on the Holonet, the death of the legendary General, the _traitor_ to the Empire who had escaped the Jedi Purge.

Obi-Wan Kenobi, a traitor. The galaxy had gone mad.

"Hello, little one."

Ahsoka practically threw herself at her Grandmaster, blinking back tears. She hugged him, and he hugged back just as fiercely. One of them was shaking, or maybe both of them were.

"I thought you were dead." Her voice remained impressively steady.

"I know."

Ahsoka took a step back. A flash of hurt burned through the Force.

"That was faked." She shook her head, mouth twisting into the beginnings of a snarl. "I can't believe you!"

Obi-Wan's eyes gleamed with something like remorse.

"I wouldn't have done it if it weren't absolutely necessary."

"Necessary? What made that necessary? They showed the discovery of your mutilated corpse on the Holonet for days!"

"Satine," Bail spoke up, and both Jedi turned to face him, "he was worried about what they might do to her."

Ahsoka looked back at Obi-Wan sympathetically. She knew how deeply he cared for the Duchess, no matter how reluctant he was to admit it.

"Why didn't you two just go into hiding?"

Obi-Wan shook his head sadly.

"Satine can't leave her people, anymore than I can abandon the galaxy to the rule of the Sith."

"Does she know?" The words "that you're alive" didn't need to be spoken. They were understood.

"Yes, she knows."

"The two have been meeting in secret as often as possible. I've tried to tell them it's a bad idea, but they don't listen to me." Bail sighed, his words clearly directed at Ahsoka.

Obi-Wan completely disregarded his friend's reprimand.

"I haven't seen her since Palpatine's last speech. How is she?"

"She's fine." Bail looked at Ahsoka again. "The Duchess may have publicly pledged her allegiance to the Empire, but she's taken up Padmè's torch in the Senate and has begun helping me with the Rebellion."

Padmè. She really was dead, that much was certain, Ahsoka thought, but what about-

"Master Obi-Wan? Is Anakin..." She trailed off when she saw the look on Obi-Wan's face.

He buried his head in his hands, and Ahsoka had the sneaking suspicion that he was holding back tears.

"Anakin's gone."

Ahsoka's heart sank. Of course, she had been foolish to think otherwise.

"I've been searching for other survivors," Obi-Wan said, looking up, "you're the only one I've found so far. I think there are a few Sentinels or apprentices who escaped, but they're hiding themselves well."

"With your help we might be able to find and relocate Force sensitive children before the Empire can find them, but if we can't call you Ahsoka, you'll need a code name, so you can deal with other operatives."

All three of them looked out the viewport as Alderaan got bigger and bigger. It really was a beautiful planet. Alderaan was blue and green, and a good staging point for a galactic uprising. The center, where the thread of all their hopes connected.

"Fulcrum," she said, "you can call me Fulcrum."

Obi-Wan smiled softly at her as Bail spoke.

"Then welcome to the Rebellion."


	2. Stars in the Skie(ye)s

Obi-Wan dreamt of drowning. Multiple nights a week for two months, it was always the same.

He fell, dropped straight down into cold, dark water. Looking around, he found the light from where ever he had fallen had disappeared. It was impossible to tell which way was up, and the freezing water sapped all his energy anyway.

Alone in the dark and the cold, Obi-Wan resigned himself to his fate.

Then, there was a light. It was soft and small, but pure, completely untouched by the dark. The light circled him, cautiously, and he reached out for it. Just when he was certain he couldn't hold his breath a second longer, the light gently wreathed itself around him and pulled him to the surface.

With his vision fading as he began to wake, the last bit of the dream was a collection of impressions at best: the color purple, a starry night sky, and a single word.

_Padawan._

 

"There are rumors of a surviving Jedi on Almania."

"Almania?" Ahsoka looked skeptical. "Isn't that place overrun by criminals?"

"That's the one."

"I want to go with you."

She had gone with Obi-Wan on several of these searches before, when she wasn't otherwise occupied, but something about this one seemed... different.

Obi-Wan sighed, picking up his helmet from the table and turning it over in his hands before looking at Ahsoka.

"Not this time," he said, "I need to go alone."

The Force hummed in agreement, glowing with the rightness of his statement.

"I've got a bad feeling about this." Ahsoka said, echoing one of her Grandmaster's favorite phrases.

Obi-Wan smiled sadly at her. Ahsoka noted that his smiles were always sad now, and she felt her heart break a little more. He placed his hand on her shoulder for a moment. 

Looking into his eyes, Ahsoka thought he looked like he knew something she didn't.

"If there really is another Jedi out there, I need to find them before the Empire does."

Obi-Wan turned away and began to move towards his ship.

"I'll be back as soon as I can." He called over his shoulder.

"May the Force be with you, Master Obi-Wan."

"And with you, Ahsoka."

 

It seemed simple enough at first. Just get in, determine the validity of the Jedi rumors, retrieve them if necessary, and get out.

Of course, where Obi-Wan Kenobi was concerned, nothing was ever that easy.

Which is how he ended up sprinting across the wintry, frozen landscape of Northern Almania, chased by a small gang of pirates.

Obi-Wan skidded to a halt and turned to face his pursuers. Drawing his lightsaber, or, more accurately, Qui Gon's lightsaber, was a last resort. No need to alert anyone to the fact that he was a Jedi unless he was desperate. Unfortunately, it seemed he had reached that point.

When he turned to face the pirates however, he found they had stopped and were backing away.

A loud cracking noise split the air.

Obi-Wan looked down at his feet, only to discover he was standing on a thin sheet of ice, which was quickly breaking under his weight.

Oh no.

The ice gave out completely, and Obi-Wan was plunged into the cold, inky black water underneath.

The shock of the freezing water drove his breath from his body. Luckily, his helmet hadn't completely filled with water when he gasped, so he didn't breathe in a mouthful of water.

A sickening sense of déjà vu swept over Obi-Wan.

He clawed at the water, attempting to reach the surface, but it was pitch black. The fall and the shock caused him to completely lose his equilibrium, and he didn't know which way he should be swimming. His limbs felt heavy, but his head felt light. Obi-Wan knew he needed to get another breath soon. His lungs began to burn.

Then the light appeared.

In the rather exasperating manner typical of Force visions, the light was metaphorical.

A bright young Force presence appeared, swimming circles around Obi-Wan. As he felt his consciousness begin to slip away, he reached out, desperately.

Something pressed against his open palm. Too smooth to be human, the skin felt almost webbed. Two slender arms wrapped around his chest, and Obi-Wan and his rescuer rocketed towards the surface.

Obi-Wan drew in a deep breath and blinked against the sudden flood of light as his helmet was pulled away from his head.

He found himself staring into the face of a young, purple Nautolan girl. Her large, black eyes gleamed as they reflected bits of light, resembling a starry sky.

"Master Kenobi?" Obi-Wan barely registered her words as his vision darkened.

Before he blacked out entirely, one word echoed through the Force, clear as can be.

_Padawan._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obi-Wan has a helmet and uses Qui Gon's lightsaber instead of his own to conceal his identity. He's supposedly dead, remember? I couldn't find a good place to work that into the chapter, so just fyi. Feel free to leave kudos and comments!


	3. The Apprentice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was supposed to be longer, but it worked so well on its own that I decided against it. So, we learn more about Obi-Wan's rescuer... and Satine still doesn't show up. She will soon, I promise! (The Empire kinda makes it difficult for her and Obi-Wan to meet regularly y'know)  
> As always, feel free to leave kudos/comments, and enjoy!

Obi-Wan wasn't sure how long he'd been unconscious, but there was still natural light filtering in from somewhere, so it couldn't have been too long. That was probably a good sign.

The room he found himself in appeared to be carved out of stone, most likely dug into the side of one of the many mountains that practically covered the surface of the planet. A few well tended plants were scattered throughout the small room, reminding Obi-Wan of the quarters he had shared with Qui Gon during his apprenticeship.

A flash of purple in Obi-Wan's peripheral vision drew his attention, and when he looked over he saw his rescuer bustling about in the small kitchen area. 

Her face, dusted with freckles several shades darker than her lilac complexion, was a perfect, placid Jedi mask. She moved with a kind of understated grace that belied the anxiety radiating from her. The only thing that outwardly betrayed her emotions was the minute twitching of her head-tails, but her worries were loud in the Force, due to an absence of mental shielding.

She might've thought she didn't need them at the moment, but Obi-Wan thought it was more likely that she simply hadn't been taught proper shields yet; she was too young. The dark purple tips of her head-tails, which matched her freckles, barely reached her shoulders, meaning she couldn't be older than thirteen or so.

Of course even if her mental shields hadn't been lacking, it wouldn't have been difficult to recognize the girl as a Jedi apprentice. Aside from the strong Force signature, there was also the distinctly Jedi outfit. The girl wore very typical cream and brown robes, and she had a silka bead braid hanging among her head-tails. Obi-Wan noted that there were no colored marker beads in her braid, other than the yellow at the top that signified the start of a Padawan's training.

She couldn't have been apprenticed for very long when the Order fell, he realized sadly.

His eyes flicked to the glinting silver on either side of her belt. Two lightsaber hilts, completely identical, hung at her sides. They were pure silver, except for a small transparent section in the middle of each handle. Through this, the kyber crystals were visible. At first glance, the blue crystals appeared to be completely suspended in water, but upon closer inspection Obi-Wan noticed they were secured at either end. 

"You're awake." The girl sounded like she might cry from sheer relief.

She sat down next to the makeshift cot Obi-Wan was lying on, handing him a cup of tea.

"I wasn't sure how long you'd been in the water, but I had a feeling it'd take more than a little hypothermia to stop you, Master Kenobi."

Obi-Wan actually smiled a little at that, recognizing the teasing humor in her words, though it was still strange for him to remember that he was a well known figure. He certainly didn't think he deserved the hero worship that had crept into the apprentice's eyes and voice.

"Well, I think drowning would have done it, so I'm lucky you showed up when you did." He smiled softly. "What's your name?"

"Kho Tai," the girl ducked her head in a quick imitation of a bow, "my name is Kho Tai."

"How old are you?" Obi-Wan's voice was gentle, but to his ears this all still sounded annoyingly like an interrogation.

"Eleven standard."

Before, Obi-Wan had thought that his spirit couldn't possibly shatter any further. Looking at the child in front of him, he was alarmed, though not altogether surprised, to find that he had been wrong.

Even though he felt he already knew the answer to his next question, Obi-Wan knew it had to be asked.

"Your master?"

Kho bit her lower lip and shook her head sadly. Her grief whispered into the Force as she attempted to release it.

"The clones-" she began to speak but broke off, rubbing at her face and drawing in a shaky breath before starting again, "I didn't realize anyone else had survived. I thought- I thought I was the only one."

Kho was crying in earnest now, and Obi-Wan reached out to brush her tears away. She leaned into his touch, causing the silka bead braid to bump against his hand. The Force sang a melancholy acknowledgement, almost as if- no.

There was a gentle nudge at the back of his mind, bright and achingly familiar.

_No._

It took a significant amount of willpower for Obi-Wan to not jerk his hand away.

No, he couldn't train anyone, Anakin was proof enough of that. He would find somewhere safe for Kho, relocate her, but he would _never_ take another apprentice.

An irritating inner voice chose that moment to him that Qui Gon had made a similar vow in regards to him, and that a Force sensitive who couldn't properly hide her presence wouldn't be safe anywhere anymore.

 

Master Kenobi's deep, even breathing and muted Force signature signalled that he was asleep, but Kho was restless. Earlier, she had discovered something confusing, but had had no time to focus on it.

She sank down onto the floor, cross legged, and tried to meditate. It was barely there at the back of her mind, tenuous but strong. Kho attempted to follow the bright thread, but it cut off suddenly.

Well, it didn't exactly just cut off. She could still see it, but some invisible barrier prevented her from going any further. For some reason, this upset her.

This is ridiculous, Kho thought, I don't even know what it is.

_You know exactly what it is, young one._

Kho wasn't used to receiving such straightforward responses from the Force, but the deep voice was somehow comforting and familiar. She decided that while it was speaking to her, she might as well learn what she could from it.

/My master is dead. This cannot be a training bond./

_It is not fully formed yet. The other side is blocked._

/Blocked?/

_By the same person to which it leads._

Kho thought of Master Kenobi, resting on the sleep couch a few feet away. She was answered by a slight glow in the Force, as if she were being praised for the idea.

 _Obi-Wan is in denial,_ the voice said, _he has been hurt greatly, but he will recover. Be patient with him. In time he will accept the will of the Force._

/Why are you speaking to me and not Master Kenobi?/

The Force- or whatever it was that was talking to her- seemed pleased.

_Your connection to the Living Force is very strong. You lack proper mental shielding, and are naturally open and receptive. To put it simply, you listen. Obi-Wan does not._

/He's too... stubborn./

 _Indeed he is._ The voice almost sounded as if it were laughing. _Now, young one, I believe it's time for you to get some sleep._

Kho felt the light softly curl itself around her. A gentle melody hummed through the Force as she laid down completely. For the first time in a long time, Kho Tai felt safe and cared for. She drifted off to sleep, secure in the knowledge that the Force would guide and protect her.


End file.
